Gracious God,
Today is a day to honor the men in our lives
and remember with fondness our fathers
in their best moments
and the lessons learned in their most human moments.
Through these men–
those biological fathers
and those men of grace who’ve stood in the gaps–
we’ve learned what it means to live in community,
and what it means to be human.
Teach us your grace.
Teach us how to best love one another.
Teach us to see the gaps in each other’s lives with love.
It is out of both the fullness and the gaps in our lives
that we give expression to our joys and concerns:
[prayer cards read aloud]
And we acknowledge that there are pleasures so sweet
we can only ponder them in our hears
And pains so deep
they leave us wordless.
Hear those silent prayers as well:
[pause for silent prayer]
Remind us, Lord,
that love is a commitment that must be renewed daily.
It seeks good for the world,
stirs up in us a desire to serve one another
and to live in peace.
It prompts us to devote our time to following the living traditions of Jesus
to welcome the excluded
to tend to those in need
and to fill the gaps.
Blessed be!
Prayers of the People 